Hogwarts: Proficiency Panel

Chapter 392 393: The Juvenile Wampus Biscuit

The Room of Hope.

On the left side of the main hall, a new, inconspicuous door had manifested within the stone wall.

As a light breeze drifted through the room, the wall seemed to crack open just enough to reveal a sliver of light. Justin instinctively glanced toward the gap, watched it for a heartbeat, and then returned to his spell-work. He knew better than to intrude on Sean's private sanctum.

Beyond the door lay a large, circular chamber. Elegant arched windows were draped in blue and bronze silk, offering a charmed view of the snowy peaks of Greylock—a lingering souvenir from their American trip.

The ceiling was a domed expanse of shifting stars, mirrored by the deep-blue carpet below. The room was furnished with heavy desks and overflowing bookshelves, but the focal point was a niche directly opposite the door. Within it sat a white marble bust of Rowena Ravenclaw. Atop her carved curls sat a glittering diadem, inscribed with the words:

"Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure."

Sean had been momentarily stunned when he first saw the room, until he leaned in close enough to realize the relic was merely an exquisite alchemical replica.

Now, he looked at the bust once more. "How could a wizard's true wisdom ever be contained within a mere crown?" he murmured.

He turned toward his primary workstation. The silver-topped table was cluttered with various magical curiosities: cracked lenses from his refraction experiments and a display rack filled with his Fairy Tale Biscuits.

There were the purring Kneazle Biscuits, the pulsing Fire Dragon Biscuits, and the screeching Hippogriff Biscuits... all arranged in neat, labeled rows.

Today, a new addition sat on the velvet tray: the Wampus Biscuit.

As Sean focused his gaze on the treat, the world around him began to warp and blur. Images of familiar places flashed before his eyes: the crackling hearth of the Transfiguration office, the bubbling cauldrons of the dungeons, and the snow-dusted lawns of the McGonagall Villa.

Sean remained unmoved. His [Entry] level Occlumency kicked in, and within seconds, he had anchored his mind back to reality, shattering the hypnotic lure of the biscuit's raw essence.

He picked up the Wampus Biscuit and took a firm bite.

In an instant, the young wizard vanished from the room. When the silence was finally broken by the sound of padding paws, a creature had manifested in the center of the rug as if born from the shadows.

It possessed a coat of silken, ink-black fur patterned with silver-white markings that resembled drifting clouds. Its vivid green eyes radiated a piercing, hypnotic brilliance.

As the Wampus surveyed its own body, it realized something that was both unexpected and entirely logical:

It was small.

Literally small—barely larger than a standard Kneazle. It looked for all the world like a Wampus kitten.

Sean deduced this was the result of the biscuit only being at the [Apprentice] level. It was the same principle as the "Little Dragon" biscuits versus the full-grown versions; his system panel only upgraded the form to adult once the proficiency reached [Expert].

So, I suppose this is a 'Juvenile Wampus Biscuit'? he thought.

The more pressing question was whether the creature's innate Legilimency was functional in its youth. Testing that would be no simple task. The cat-form Sean thought for a moment, then gave the pendant around its neck a sharp shake.

The Wizard's Tome hopped off the cord, expanding in a series of intricate clicks until it formed a heavy oak door in the middle of the room.

"I await your command—speak your will to Will!"

The Pukwudgie steward stepped out with an air of immense self-importance. His gaze swept the room, darted left and right, and finally settled on the floor. He went perfectly still.

"Look down, Will," a familiar voice commanded.

The Pukwudgie gave a violent start and looked at the rug. The sight that met him was beyond comprehension. His master—the great wizard he had sworn to serve—had turned into a tiny Wampus Cat.

"Forgive me, sir! I was too slow!"

Will snapped his fingers, and before Sean could react, he found himself scooped up in the Pukwudgie's arms. The steward looked frantic. "Honored Mr. Green! Where is the Hogwarts hospital wing? We must get you to the healers at once!"

"My transformation did not fail, Will," the cat said, the sound emanating from the Blunt Brooch attached to its silken fur.

"Of course, of course! For a wizard of your stature, this is merely a... an experimental exploration! An accidental diversion! Yes, Master William taught me that even the wise occasionally trip over their own shoelaces..."

Will's thick, grey eyebrows were knit into a tight knot of anxiety.

"This is my Animagus form," the cat clarified.

Will paused. A magical creature Animagus was a concept he hadn't quite processed yet.

Sean looked up at the elm-wood clock on the wall. It was ten past eight. Exactly three minutes since he had consumed the biscuit.

With a shimmer of magic, the cat vanished, and the young wizard stood in its place, perfectly composed.

"By Master William's whiskers..." Will whispered. He used a sharp fingernail to prick his own arm, the stinging pain confirming that he wasn't under a Confusion Charm.

"Master William... has the power of the Fairy Tale Biscuits reached such a height? Oh, forgive me, sir—that is a question Will has no right to ask. Will knows that a wizard such as yourself possesses many inscrutable secrets."

"It's no secret, Will," Sean said gently. "When a wizard's Animagus form aligns perfectly with a beast-transformation, they retain their consciousness because their soul isn't being forcibly twisted into a foreign shape."

"Oh... I see... the soul... untwisted..." Will nodded vigorously, though his glazed eyes suggested he was entirely out of his depth.

Sean pulled out his Transfiguration journal and gave the steward a brief, simplified summary of the theory regarding Soul Revenants. As he tucked the notes back into the Tome, he noticed Will's head was bowed low. The Pukwudgie's small frame was trembling.

Sean frowned slightly. "What is it, Will?"

"By Master William's grave!" Will cried out, his eyes shining with a strange, wet light. "I only wish Lord Green knew... I wish he truly knew how wizards treat us 'lowly' Pukwudgies in the wider world.

"They spend every hour of every day trying to break us—trying to turn us into things like house-elves! House-elves, sir! Wizards once treated them like common garden pests! And they still do, sir! That is why they will never truly have the loyalty they crave—no creature was ever born to be enslaved!

"A Pukwudgie must hide. We must fight. Otherwise, the greed and the terrible desires of wizards would consume us all..."

Sean listened in silence. He had never heard the history of the magical world from the perspective of a non-human 'Being.'

"Do you know what the most precious thing in the world is, sir?" Will asked, looking up. "Knowledge! As Madam Isolt used to say: 'Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure.'"

Sean went silent, wondering where on earth Isolt Sayre had heard the motto of Rowena Ravenclaw.

[End of Chapter 393]

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